Amador County – Railroad enthusiasts and speeder car club members will be filling the rails of the Amador County-to-Ione railroad tracks Memorial Day Weekend for the Sixth Annual Ione Rail Fair.

Excursion Coordinator Chuck Ratto appeared on TSPN’s AMLive last week to let the viewers know about the Rail Fair, which is set for Saturday and Sunday, May 26-27 at South Mill Street in Ione.

Tom Correa, Deputy Road Master, Amador Central Railroad said the Sixth Annual Memorial Day Rail Fair will be a weekend of fun for the entire family. It features speeder rides, model train exhibits, pony rides, food and craft vendors.

The fundraiser will help keep the Amador Central Railroad alive, and it is being sponsored by the Recreational Railroad Coalition Historical Society.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – May is Stroke Awareness Month and Sutter Amador Hospital hosted an educational lecture on Thursday, May 17, to get the word out to help people know the signs of stroke so they can get immediate help.

Timely treatment for someone experiencing signs of a stroke is crucial for survival, and that is why Jackson neurologist Doctor Donald Van Fossan with Sutter Amador Hospital wanted to get the word out about how to recognize and treat a stroke.

Common stroke symptoms are usually sudden, including onset weakness on one side of the body, severe headache, and difficulty with vision, balance or speaking. Van Fossan said it is important for people to know the signs of a stroke and get help as fast as possible if they or someone else are experiencing these symptoms.

“It is imperative that they call 9-1-1 and have them brought to Sutter Amador Hospital,” Van Fossan said. “We have emergency treatments available that can limit the extent of the damage to the brain and those can only be beneficial within the first three hours.”

If patients are brought to the hospital in a timely manner, Van Fossan said they can be treated with a procedure called tissue plasminogen activators. “It’s a clot-busting medicine,” he said. “We can dissolve this clot to the brain and restore the circulation. This medicine can limit any potential damage to the brain from the stroke.”

In order to educate the public on strokes, their causes, their symptoms and new treatment options – as well as what can be done to help reduce the long-term effects – Van Fossan and Sutter Amador’s Emergency Department Stroke Champion, Doctor Ron Hood, led a community lecture on Thursday, May 17.

Doctor Richard Atkinson, a nationally recognized stroke specialist with the Sutter Neuroscience Institute who is based in Sacramento, joined them for the lecture. More than 70 community members attended the educational event, which was held in the Sutter Amador Outpatient Services Center at 100 Mission Boulevard in Jackson.

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Amador County – About 24 local and regional emergency services officials attended a kickoff meeting earlier this month for an update to the Local Hazard Mitigation Plan, being led by the Amador County Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Services.

Sergeant John Silva, Amador Sheriff’s OES coordinator introduced Jeanine Foster of AMEC Earth & Environmental of Boulder, Colorado, who was selected as consultant on the plan, and also did the first Local Hazard Mitigation Plan five years ago.

Foster said the costs associated with responding to and recovery from disasters has caused more and more disaster declarations, and the cost is too great for the federal government to bear. She said the Hazard Mitigation Act of 2000 established the need for a renewed plan every five years to maintain eligibility for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) pre-disaster and post-disaster funds. With the local plan, cities, counties and special districts can get funds for planning projects.

She said the plans do not have to reinvent the wheel, and can use existing documents such as General Plans, post event reports or news stories. The draft Local Hazard Mitigation Plan will go to Cal-EMA and FEMA for review and approval. Once approved, it’s up to the community to do the projects that it lists.

She said the Amador plan will seek participants in a committee to update the plan, which should mitigate and help avert hazards, adapt to hazards, with projects to do the work. She said a brainstorm process will follow with looking at benefits versus costs of projects.

One such project was the recent Marcucci Bridge project on Jackson Creek. Silva said the 2006 plan included a new bridge and expanded culvert, near Denny’s. Jackson City Manager Mike Daly said the small culvert that was replaced dated to 1950, and significant flooding of residents on South Avenue was typical with rain events. Semi-retired Ione Building Inspector Don Myshrall said Ione received a grant for a pond in the plan in 2009 to keep water from flooding downtown.

Cathy Koos-Breazeal said the Amador Fire Safe Council was already working on a Community Conservation Wildfire Protection Plan, for Greater Pine Grove. Foster said the Council’s previous Protection Plan for the Pioneer and Volcano area was used in the 2006 Local Hazard Plan.

Foster said the grants are 75 percent funded with 25 percent local match. She said she has seen jurisdictions come in with their own “annex” in the middle of a five-year cycle, applied for funding and received it. She said “it really comes down to projects and if they find funding.” A lot of jurisdictions partner with cities or counties, and when counties had more money, they were more willing to administer grants for other jurisdictions.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County News, TSPN TV News Video, 5-18-12 - TSPN's Tom Slivick talks with Father Stephen Tumbas of Saint Sava Church about the 57th Annual Goat Barbecue, set for Memorial Day Weekend.

Amador County News, TSPN TV News Video, 5-21-12 - Supervisor John Plasse sits down with Tom Slivick to discuss the agenda for the upcoming board of supervisors meeting. 

Amador County News, TSPN TV News Video, 5-18-12

• Kennedy Mine History Day takes 400 Amador County fifth-graders back in time.

• Ione monthly budget report shows $45,000 improvement through April.

• Richard Forster testified in San Diego on Rural Counties’ continued opposition to State Responsibility Area fire fees.

• Jackson approved a trash rate increase for ACES based on a 25% increase to dump at Keifer Landfill.  

Amador County News, TSPN TV News Video, 5-21-12

 • Amador Sheriff’s OES start local hazard mitigation plan update.

• Sutter Amador Hospital hosted a lecture on stroke symptoms and treatment, to mark Stroke Awareness Month.

• The Sixth Annual Ione Memorial Day Rail Fair will help raise funds for the Amador Central Railroad.

• Amador County, local jurisdictions looked at risk areas for a local hazard mitigation plan.

• The Amador Sheriff’s website will feature crime and jail information

Amador County News, TSPN TV News Video, 5-21-12

 • Amador Sheriff’s OES start local hazard mitigation plan update.

• Sutter Amador Hospital hosted a lecture on stroke symptoms and treatment, to mark Stroke Awareness Month.

• The Sixth Annual Ione Memorial Day Rail Fair will help raise funds for the Amador Central Railroad.

• Amador County, local jurisdictions looked at risk areas for a local hazard mitigation plan.

• The Amador Sheriff’s website will feature crime and jail information

Amador County News, TSPN TV News Video, 5-21-12 - Supervisor John Plasse sits down with Tom Slivick to discuss the agenda for the upcoming board of supervisors meeting. 

Amador County – About 24 local and regional emergency services officials attended a kickoff meeting earlier this month for an update to the Local Hazard Mitigation Plan, being led by the Amador County Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Services.

Sergeant John Silva, Amador Sheriff’s OES coordinator introduced Jeanine Foster of AMEC Earth & Environmental of Boulder, Colorado, who was selected as consultant on the plan, and also did the first Local Hazard Mitigation Plan five years ago.

Foster said the costs associated with responding to and recovery from disasters has caused more and more disaster declarations, and the cost is too great for the federal government to bear. She said the Hazard Mitigation Act of 2000 established the need for a renewed plan every five years to maintain eligibility for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) pre-disaster and post-disaster funds. With the local plan, cities, counties and special districts can get funds for planning projects.

She said the plans do not have to reinvent the wheel, and can use existing documents such as General Plans, post event reports or news stories. The draft Local Hazard Mitigation Plan will go to Cal-EMA and FEMA for review and approval. Once approved, it’s up to the community to do the projects that it lists.

She said the Amador plan will seek participants in a committee to update the plan, which should mitigate and help avert hazards, adapt to hazards, with projects to do the work. She said a brainstorm process will follow with looking at benefits versus costs of projects.

One such project was the recent Marcucci Bridge project on Jackson Creek. Silva said the 2006 plan included a new bridge and expanded culvert, near Denny’s. Jackson City Manager Mike Daly said the small culvert that was replaced dated to 1950, and significant flooding of residents on South Avenue was typical with rain events. Semi-retired Ione Building Inspector Don Myshrall said Ione received a grant for a pond in the plan in 2009 to keep water from flooding downtown.

Cathy Koos-Breazeal said the Amador Fire Safe Council was already working on a Community Conservation Wildfire Protection Plan, for Greater Pine Grove. Foster said the Council’s previous Protection Plan for the Pioneer and Volcano area was used in the 2006 Local Hazard Plan.

Foster said the grants are 75 percent funded with 25 percent local match. She said she has seen jurisdictions come in with their own “annex” in the middle of a five-year cycle, applied for funding and received it. She said “it really comes down to projects and if they find funding.” A lot of jurisdictions partner with cities or counties, and when counties had more money, they were more willing to administer grants for other jurisdictions.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.